I Watched The Whole Thing Fall
by dearmrsawyer
Summary: Dean had gone to Hell, and the world had followed.


Post Named: Tell That Sam He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today

**I Watched The Whole Thing Fall**

Dean had gone to Hell, and the world had followed.

The loss of his brother had torn Sam apart, more so than any Demon war could have. His heart had disappeared with Dean in that black hole, and from that moment Sam had let the devil's work take over. Lillith had gathered her army and struck, the world crumbling at her fingertips. She was still after Sam, but he didn't care.

It had been a year, and he had lost touch with everyone and everything, his grasp on reality fading with his sanity. His whole objective was Dean; all he ever aimed for was Dean. He didn't care how many people told him it was fruitless, he was going to get his brother back.

Around him the demons had flourished. Isaac had been right, there weren't enough hunters in the world for something like this, and Lillith had proved it to all who lived to see the day when Hell would unleash its second army and purge the earth of all who still lived.

True, Azazel's army had failed with the loss of their leader. But Lillith had ensured that the second would restore the first set of troops. Devil's Gates all over the world were being unlocked. Sam never found out what happened to the colt; all he could assume was that it was in demon ranks, having become a tool for their own power struggle. Sam still followed the omens he found, tracking the series of cattle mutilations and electrical storms all over the country. He located every Devil's Gate in the US, everytime finding the doors busted open, spilling demons like a broken tap.

For years Sam had tried desperately to find a way to pull his brother from the Gates, but an exorcism had told him that the demon holding Dean's soul wasn't letting go – not after what happened to their dad. And so Sam knew the Gates wouldn't help.

Every book in existence that so much as mentioned demons, Sam had read it by Dean's fifth year, but nothing had bee revealed, and within another year Sam was as nonexistent as Dean. His own soul had withered to nothing, leaving his body bare and carnal. He had no purpose, but to survive.

He ate only when he could go no longer without food, slept only when his body told him it was about to collapse. Anyone who had ever known him came to think he was dead, but that didn't matter – they had their own lives to worry about.

Lillith's power exceeded Azazel's with ease. She had pulled the world apart, piece by piece, starting with humanity. The world had become ridden with war, famine and sin. Possession was nothing more than everyday life as the structure of mankind had come crashing down. Demons ran the world now.

Every turn found another smoking building; ash and debris lined every street of every city, no matter where. The Developed World and the Developing World were no longer separate; there was just the World, and the mess it was in. World leaders had been eliminated, no government that had ever existed still stood. Every sign of civilisation had be annihilated to make way for "_what was coming_", in Lillith's words, or "_what had already come_", in the words of helpless onlookers.

The only people still alive were those who had known the war was coming. Sam found them, sometimes, hiding far from where civilisation had once been. Populated areas no longer existed; people lived where they could survive. Over the years, media had documented waves of demons sweeping certain continents, starting with Africa. It had been the easiest. Soon enough the wave had spread over the East, and eventually the West. The remaining powers of the world lost all forms of civility as the human race descended into madness. Lifestyles didn't exist, homes were decimated, nobody lived anywhere. Earth had become a planet of nomads, wandering what was fast becoming a barren wasteland of demon-infested bodies.

The air was thick with fog – not mist, but spirits. They lingered in the atmosphere, clogging up the heavens and sucking the life out of the world. There was less of the living than there were the dead. Oxygen became scarce and the only remaining life that could restore it was dying out. Now, people only lived to die.

Sam was an expert, living out of a duffel bag - always moving, never seeing. Bodies littered the land, no matter where he was, but Sam knew this was not the end. Lillith was only beginning to spread her wrath on the world – soon she would build a new empire, and there would be no god to save those who were left.

He finally had a destination, after ten long years without a purpose.

His hair had grown long, his face covered in stubble he'd never cared to shave. His body had toned from living rough, and his skin had hardened from the earth he'd slept on. His soulful, blue eyes had lost their sparkle, nothing but a dim, empty depth left within them. Any who saw him thought him possessed by his form and hardened face. He was almost an empty shell – almost. He had one option left.

Back where it all started: Southern Wyoming.

Those who had survived had learnt long ago to steer clear of the Devil's Gates. They were breeding grounds for demons, and even after all this time; Hell was not yet empty. But Sam didn't care, his aim was that Gate. Hope had failed him relentlessly, and now there was one choice. His heart beat remained indifferent to the risk he was taking, but sometimes Sam wondered if his heart was still there. It had been so long since he'd felt anything, that he suspected his emotions had run dry.

Sam approached, not bothering to hide himself. Demons stared as he passed – everyone knew who he was. They laughed, heckled, even mocked him, but Sam didn't react. He looked at their faces, watching their black eyes flash in the reflection of the moon. The moon could still be seen, but the closer to the Gate he got, the heavier the demon cloud overheard would become. Within minutes, the moon would loose its glow.

Sam had grown to consider demon eyes as normal, as the only kind of eyes there were. It had been so long since he'd seen any colour that he no longer looked for it. But tonight, he was looking for it. Not the gentle brown or kind blue of another mortal, he was looking for a deep, blood red. A red he'd only ever seen once before in his life.

And there She was.

She wore a different body, but he recognised Her immediately. And She recognised him too. That smirk was the same as when he'd met Her all those years ago.

She took one step towards him; two. All the demons had begun to hush each other, looking in with eager eyes. She seemed excited to be the one Sam wanted, but She hid it all under that beautiful exterior.

"Sammy Winchester – yet again."

Her voice was just as inhuman as it had been last time, only this time it was deeper, more like what he'd imagined a demon to sound like. Her red eyes glowed for a second, before dulling down and revealing Her host's to be green. Sam stopped, dropping his bag and letting his arms fall to his side.

It had been so long since he'd spoken that his throat tried to rebuke speech, words unfamiliar to his lips and his tongue alien to motion. He wasn't even sure what he said, but Her smile would have sent a shiver down his spine, had he enough essence left in himself to feel.

Dean had gone to Hell, and Sam had followed.


End file.
